Rail-anchor.



Patented Feb.

ANDREW STARK, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

RAIL-ANCHOR.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented F b 22 1916 Application filed July 26, 1915; Serial 41,809.

'1 '0 all'w/wm it"iiizy concern:

, Be it known that I, Axmieiv STARK, a citi- Zen of tliei'U'niteicl States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of 4 Illinois,lia 'efiifvnte'd certain newand usefl'il Impievnien 'sin Rail-Anchors, of which the following is a specification, ref erencebeingl ifd to the accompanying drawforming iii-pm; thereof. 'lli"'piir ')oseiol this invention is to providea'devifce' 'fflthe class known as rail ai clior's'designed tobe attached to railway rails and-to abut'tlie cross tie for preventing longitudinal cree ji'n'g of the rails.

*ltconsists of the features and elements described and" shown in the drawings as indicatedby the claims. a In the'd rawings': Figure l is a top plan viewipartiallyinsection of a device embodying this invention, the outlines of the rail and cross tie being shown in dotted lines, Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of the device shown iri 'liig 1. Fig. 3 is a top plan viei'va-of the-device-with the wedge member 25 're'm'ovedand with the gripping members positioned foi-reii'ioval from the rail. 'Fig. 4 is a sectiontaken longitudinally of the rail asindica'ted at line on Fig.- .1. F ig, 5 is a sectiont'aken transversely of the'r'ail as iiidiCated'at -Ii'ne on Fig. 1.

The device illustrated in'the drawings is a three-piece construction composed of ,two gripping members," A and B, respectively, andfia 'weHge i'neinber, C. The gripping member, A, is foiiiiied with hooks, A and A at its o p 'pos'iite ends respectively, extendingab'ove'its fiat f'surfaces, A and opening toward eachotherii The middle portion, A,

o'ff the uppersnrface of the member, A, is.

depressed below the plane of the portions, A A fa nd formed with a pivot stu'd or boss, Ai, toreceivethe middle portion of the member,- B, which is apertured for-the purpose at- B4. W'heii the parts, A and B, are'thi'is' assembled with the pivot, A engaging the apei-tiire,.B,the flat areas, B, of the ineiiibe'r, B,will he in-aboiit the same surfaces, A? and B into contact with the under surface of the'rail flange. The over hanging terminals of the hooks, A and B. are slanted off at A and B so as to be alined with each otherwl-ien the members, Aand B, are swung together about their pivot to their position of least, angular divergence.

A? and B is a maximum and is sufficient to permit the former 'pair of books to be engaged with one. edge of the rail flange while the latter pair are swung upward past the opposite edge of the flange to'bring the In this position the-distance bee tween the hooks, A? and B and the hooks,

B, now provides space for the insertion of the wedge, C. The areas, A and B3, of the gripping members are each partially bound ed by the curved outline of'the shoulders,

A" and B, which are positioned for contact with the diverging lateral edges, C,-o f

the wedge, C, as the'latter'is inserted in'the device. The curves'of these shoulders ..-are

so formed that all four of the shoulders'will' remain in contact with the straight-but di verging edges, C, "of the wedge, C, at the successive positions of the latter as it is driven farther and" farther into place,

though it will be evidentqthat such inward hooks, A andB or between the ho ok s,A

and .B, or even between both pairs ofilio'oks;

To permit this action theaperturepB-"eis made considerably largerf'than the pivot pivotal connection controls the moveme nt' and position ofithe gripping inei'nbers. It

will be evident; that thisimplies" that the curved vertical walls, Affand BX-of the;

hook portions constitute temporary and shiftii'igv fulcriims for the -'.an'gular move,

ments-jof the gripping members, A and Br as they adjust tliems'elves to successive posi- I respect to the edge but close upon the rail,

the hooks, A and B approaching each otheras they are pushed farther and farther from the hooks, B and A respectively.

The depth or thickness of the wedge member, C, in a.vertical direction is approximately the depthof the depression at, B, @in the grippin member, B, and may be substantially uni orm throughout the length of the wedge except that its tip, C may be tapered 'or beveled to a fairly thin edge to facilitate entering it. 'However, it is desirable that. as the gripping surfaces, A and B", on the'hooks approach their final position on the rail the inner or downwardly facing surfaces of the hook terminals may also come into strong frictional contact with the rail flange. To insurethis the lateral edges, C of the wedgemember, C, are slightly undercut or beveled so that the wedge is somewhat wider at its top surface than at its bottom, and the curved shoulders, A". and B, are correspondingly beveled to form sloping faces for the sides of the wedge, C, so that as it approaches its final position of maximum tightness the wedge tends to rise out of the groove into which it' is driven up against the under surfaceof the rail flange, thus causing the hook terminals on the gripping members, A and B, to react strongly upon the upper surface of the rail flange, and producing a final engagement of the device with the rail in which the rail flange is gripped bothverti- '35 cally and transversely and itself. frictionally engages not only the gripping members, A and B, but also the wedge, C, at its upper surface. The wedge may be made of rolled steel-or as a malleable casting, so that when it has been driven to this final position its tip or point, C, may be bent up around the edge of the rail flange so as to effectually prevent the Wedge from working loose.

Looking at the under side of the device, it will be seen that except at their lapped middle portions both of the gripping bars, A and B, are formed with vertically disposed stiffening ribs, A and B, respectively, which extend'up aror ad the hooked ends of the members for str ngthening these portions. One of these ribs on the bar, A, is enlarged into a considerable flange, A, de signed to abut the vertical surface of the cross tie directly ahead of the device to render the latter effective for its purpose, namely, preventing creeping of the rail. This flange is reinforced by a stiffening rib or brace, A. The wedge, C, is formed with a downwardly extending head portion, C", which presents a larger area for driving and which when the wed e is driven home to its final position alines oproxirnately with the bracing rib, A, so at'any stress against the flange, A, can by the tendency of the rail to creep lo" ;udinally is transmitted compressively through the brace, A, and

the head, C to the gripping member, B at B It snot expected that such stress will cause any relative movement among the moving over the tie.

It maybe noted that the nature of this device makes it possiblefor one size of gripping bars, A and B, to serve on any one of two or three sizes of rail simply by the provision of different. wedges, C, of various widths. \Vithin certain limits the gripping bars may be effectively engaged with the rail flange at various angles, and their range of angular movement for engagement or disengagement may be shifted to' different parts of their total range of movement simply by the use of such differing sizes of wedges, C. This coupled with the fact that the accommodation of the vertical wedging to the horizontal wedging action as above described renders all machining unnecessary, making it possible to'use simple casting for all parts, makes the device acomparatively inexpensive fixture.

I claim 1. A rail anchor comprising a pair of gripper bars having ends formed for gripping one edge of the railflange, said bars extending in oppositely oblique directions transversely of the rail, means adapted to grip the other edge of the rail flange, and spreading means accommodated between the aforesaid ends of the bars adaptedto force them apart longitudinally of the rail for tightening their grip thereon.

2. A rail anchor "comprising a pair of gripper bars having ends formed for engaging one edge of the rail flange, said bars being connected and extending in oppositely diagonal directions transversely of the rail, means for engaging the other edge of the rail flange, and a Wedgeadapted to be driven between the diverging ends of said bars in horizontal direction transversely of the rail.

3. A rail anchor comprising a pair of gripper bars having hooked ends for engaging one edge of the rail flange, said bars being connected and extending in oppositely 1 diagonal directions transversely of the rail,

hooked means for engaging the other edge of the rail flange, and a wedge adapted to be driven between the diverging ends of said bars in horizontal direction transversel of the rail. v

l. A rail anchor comprising a pair of gripper bars each having both ends formed for engaging the opposite edges of the railflange.

said bars being lapped one upon the other 1 to extend in oppositely diagonal directions under the rail, a loose pivotal connection between said bars, and means for spreading the ends of said bars at each edge of the rail flange for tightening the grip of the bars upon said flange.

5.: A rail anchor comprising a pair of ripper bars each having both ends formed or engaging. the opposite edges of the rail flange-said bars being lapped one upon the other to extend in oppositely diagonal directions under the rail, and spreading means accommodated betweenv the bars at both edges of the rail; flange adapted to simultaneously force them apartlongitudinally pfthe rail for tightening their grip thereon.

-'6. A rail anchor comprising a pair ,of

gripper bars each having both ends formed for engaging the oppositeedges of the rail flange, and said bars being lapped one upon the other to extend in oppositely diagonal direct-ions under the rail, and a wedge adapted to be driven transversely of the rail in horizontal direction "and to contact simultaneously with the diverging bars at both sides of said rail for increasing thelr diver gence and tightening their grip upon said rail flange.

7. A rail anchor comprising a pair of ipper bars each having both ends hooked r engaging the opposite edges of the rail flange, said bars being lapped one upon the other to extend in oppositely dlagonal d1- rections under the rail, and a wedge adapted to be driven between the diverging end of said bars in horizontal direction transversely of the rail, said wedge being accommodated between the bars and the under surface of the rail flange, the tapering edges of said wedge being beveled diverging upwardly,

and the surfaces of the bars being corre-,

spondingly beveled to engage said edges flatwise so that the driving of the wedge tends to crow it up against the rail flange and to draw the hooked ends of the bars down on to said flange.

' 8. A rail anchor comprising a palr of gripper bars each having both ends formed for engaging the opposite edges of the rail flange, said bars being lapped one upon the other' between their ends so as to extend in oppositely diagonal direct-ions under the rail,,both bars having areas at both sides of their lapped portions lying approximately in the plane of the under side of the rall flange, each of said areas being partially bounded by curved shoulders, such shoulders of one bar' opposing the respective shoulder of the other bar, and a wedge adapted to lie upon the lapped portion of said-bars directly under the rail flange and between said opposing shouldersof the bars,

with each of the tapering edges ,simultane ously engaging two of sald shoulders, so

that driving the wedge transversely of the rail in horizontal direction operates to the rail, said wedge being accommodated be tween the bars and the under surface of the rail flange, the edges of saidwedge being beveled diverging upwardly and the surface of the bars being correspondingly beveled to engage the said edges flatwise for crowding the hooked ends of the bars against the rail flange. v

10. In a rail anchor comprising members formed to engage the edges and top surfaces of the rail flange and having portions extending across the rail under said flange, a Wedge adapted to be driven horizontally between said portions and said flange, the tapering edges of said wedge being beveled diverging upwardly, and the grippmg members havlng correspondingly beveled faces for contact with said edges to cause the wedge to crowd up against the rail flange for drawing the members into engagement with the top surfaces thereof.

11. In a rail anchor comprising gripping bars having ends formed for engaging one edge of the rail flange, said bars being connected and extending in opposite diagonal directions transversely of the rail, means for engaging the other edge of the rail flange, and a wedge adapted to be driven between the diverging ends of said bars transversely of the rail and immediately un der the flange thereof, such wedge and gripper bars having coiiperating beveled surfaces which when engaged as the Wedge is driven tend to force said wedge against the under surface of the rail flange.

12. In a rail anchor conlprisinggripping members formed to engage the edges and top surfaces of the rail flange, means arranged to react between said members and said rail flange comprising a wedge to be driven transversely of the rail between said members and the bottom flange for simultaneously forcing the members into engagement with the edges of the flange and crowding them into frictional contact with the top surfaces of said flange.

13. In a rail anchor comprising gripping members formed to engage the edges and top surfaces of the rail flange, means arranged to react between said members and said rail flange comprising a wedge. to be driven transverselyof th rail between said members and the bottom flange for simultaneously forcing the members into engagement with the edges of the flange and crowding them into frictional contact with the top surfaces of said flange, the small end of the Wedge being adapted to be clenched around the edge of said flange.

14. A rail 311(2101 comprising a pair of gripper bars ha 'ing ends formed for engaging one edge of the rail flange, said bars being connected and extending in'oppositely diagonal directions transversely of the rail, means for engaging the other edge of the rail flange and a Wedge adapted to be driven between the diverging ends of said bars horizontally under the rail, the entering end of said Wedge being dimensioned to extend beyond the other edge of the rail flange and adapted to be bent up around the flange to retain the Wedge in position.

15. A rail anchor comprising a pair of gripper bars each having both ends formed for engaging the opposite edges of the rail flange, said bars being lapped one upon the other to extend in oppositely diagonal directions under the rail and a wedge adapted to be driven transversely under the rail in horizontal direction and to contact simultaneously with the diverging bars at both sides of said rail for increasing their divergence and tightening their grip upon the rail flange, the entering end of said Wedge being dimensioned to extend beyond the edge of the rail flange and adapted to be bent up around said edge to retain the Wedge in position.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Chicago, Illinois, this 16th day of July, 1915.

ANDREW STARK.

Witnesses:

EDNA M. MAoIN'rosH, LUCY I. STONE. 

